Sacramento City College

Kevin Anderson, Director – SCC Cyber Security Center

Academic Alliances in Security

The Stop.Think.Connect. Campaign is a national public awareness campaign aimed at increasing the understanding of cyber threats and empowering the American public to be safer and more secure online. Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility. We each have to do our part to keep the Internet safe. When we all take simple steps to be safer online, it makes using the Internet a more secure experience for everyone.

Sacramento City College has joined the Department of Homeland Security’s Academic Alliance.

IT Security Training

Cybrary is a free, open source, online Cyber Security training environment for the world.

Security Corner

Is your Android Device Secure?

Google has patched a severe Android vulnerability that researchers at IBM said impacts more than 55 percent of devices. As with most Android vulnerabilities, users are reliant on handset makers and carriers to push patches downstream to devices, something they’ve not always been diligent about.

IBM characterizes the vulnerability as a serialization flaw that if exploited allows an attacker complete control over an Android device. The most serious of the vulnerabilities disclosed today at USENIX by researchers Or Peles and Roee Hay affect versions 4.3 to 5.1, Jelly Bean through Lollipop, as well as Android M Preview 1 currently in beta. Make sure you keep your Android devices updated! For more information visit threatpost.com.

How To Avoid CryptoLocker Ransomware

Over the past several weeks, a handful of frantic Microsoft Windows users have asked how to recover from PC infections from “CryptoLocker,” the generic name for an increasingly prevalent and nasty strain of malicious software that encrypts your files until you pay a ransom. For years, security experts have emphasized the importance of backing up one’s files as a hedge against disaster in the wake of a malware infestation. Unfortunately, if your backup drives are connected physically (USB for example), or via the local network to the PC that gets infected with CryptoLocker, your backups may also become encrypted as well.

Computers infected with CryptoLocker may initially show no outward signs of infection; this is because it often takes many hours for the malware to encrypt all of the files on the victim’s PC and attached or networked drives. When that process is complete, however, the malware will display a pop-up message similar to the one pictured above, complete with a countdown timer that gives victims a short window of time in which to decide whether to pay the ransom or lose access to the files forever. Windows users should check out CryptoPrevent, a tiny utility from John Nicholas Shaw, CEO and developer of Foolish IT, a computer consultancy based in Outer Banks, N.C. Another option might be cloud data storage systems such as the new Microsoft Office One-Drive, since it is not connected and susceptible like a network shared drive or USB drive.

CyberPatriot Summer Camp at Sacramento City College

Summer 2015 Sacramento City College hosted students from local K-12 schools to a CyberSecurity Summer Camp with the support from our Deputy Sector Navigator from the State Chancellor’s office. Students learned information security skills and competed as teams. They were treated to presentations by local representatives from the FBI, and Department of Homeland Security who really engaged them. We look forward to hosting another CyberSecurity Summer Camp in 2016!